Woman convicted for her role in slaying of Sparks man, 75

A Baltimore County Circuit Court jury has convicted Cynthia L. Levering of the attempted robbery and murder of a 75-year-old retired contractor from Sparks, who was shot to death in his home Nov. 16.

Levering, 28, of the 5100 block of Ardmore Way, Gardenville, was convicted of murder yesterday, three days after her boyfriend, Thomas E. Crawford, 31, of the same address, was also convicted of killing Harold L. Webb.

Prosecutors are seeking life sentences without possibility of parole for Levering and Crawford. Judge Thomas Bollinger set sentencing for Crawford for April 11. A sentencing date for Levering has yet to be set.

Evidence in the case showed that Crawford and Levering drove to the Webb home in the 16000 block of York Road late at night and posed as a couple in need of assistance, as part of a robbery scheme.

During the attempted robbery, Joanne H. Webb, 66, wife of the victim, struck Crawford with a cordless phone and threw objects at him, as she chased him through her home and out the back door. He fired at her with a .38-caliber handgun, but missed, although one bullet passed through her nightgown.

Joanne Webb testified that she heard other gunshots coming from the front of the home, where Levering had remained with her husband, Harold.

Returning to the front of the home, Mrs. Webb found her husband bleeding to death from five gunshot wounds.

"She went there with her boyfriend to rob the Webbs because of drugs," said Lou Carrico, one of two assistant state's attorneys prosecuting the case. "It's because of her [Levering's] lust for drugs that Harold Webb is no longer here."